A List of Mayors and Aldermen of the City of Savannah, Georgia, 1790-2012 ADDENDUM List of Mayors and Aldermen of the City of Savannah, Georgia, 1790 - 1901 This addendum lists mayors and aldermen from the first municipal election, held in 1790, through the administration of 1899-190 l. The lists have been taken directly from A History of the City Government of Savannah, Ga., from 1790 to 1901, a very useful book, unfortunately long out of print, which was compiled from the City Council Minutes by Thomas Gamble, Jr., and published by City Council in 1900. This information has been recompiled into the format of the foregoing 1901-1978 list with a minimum of checking, though a few dates for special elections were verified or corrected from the Council Minutes, and some dates for the deaths of aldermen were obtained from the death records at the Chatham County Health Department. On page 45 of his History, Gamble describes the government of Savannah between the end of the Revolutionary War and its incorporation as a municipality as follows: In 1787 Savannah was placed under the authority of seven wardens elected by the proprietors of lots or houses, one warden for each ward, and 39 they elected from their own number a president of the board. William Stephens was the first president. He was succeeded by Samuel Stirk, who held the office for two years, 1788 and 1789. The City of Savannah was incorporated by act of the State Legis- lature late in 1789. The first municipal election was held on the first Monday in March, 1790, to elect seven aldermen for a term of one year. The date of the election was changed many times by the Legislature in the ensuing years. In 1797 it was changed from the first Monday in March to the first Monday in July; in 1807 to the first Monday in September; in 1843 to the first Monday in December; in 1857 to October. In 1865 the annual election was held in December by order of the Georgia Convention, but the following year it reverted to October. Due to the difficulties of Reconstruction, no new election was held from 1866 until 1869, the same mayor and Council continuing in office for three years. In 1871 the term in office was lengthened to two years, and in 1872 the election date was changed to the third Tuesday in January, where it remained until 1900, although the 1897 election was not held until February 1. The number of aldermen also varied. From 1790 to 1807, one alderman was elected by each ward of the city, so that the number of aldermen grew with the number of wards. From 1807 40 onwards, all aldermen were elected on the same ticket, and the number was limited to fourteen. The mayor was chosen by the aldermen themselves at their first meeting, normally held one week after the election. Thus the mayor was also an alderman, and could remain an alderman even if resigning as mayor. There were seven aldermen, including the mayor, from 1790 to 1795, ten from 1795 to 1803, twelve from 1803 to 1807, thirteen from 1807 to 1809, and fourteen from 1809 to 1844. In December of 1843 an act of the State Legislature changed these practices, reducing the number of aldermen to twelve and ruling that the mayor was to be elected directly by the people, not as one of the board of aldermen. From the election of 1844 onwards, this act was in effect, although on two occasions, in 1857 when the elected mayor died, and again in 1861 when no mayoral candidate received a majority of the vote, a mayor was chosen by Council. The organization of this list is the same as that of the 1901- 1978 list, a chronological list by administration followed by an alphabetical index by surname. There is some overlap between this list and the foregoing one around the year 1900; some individuals appear in both lists, so for complete information on a member of Council during that period both indexes should 41 be checked. Though it appears from the Council Minutes that there were council officers besides the mayor, Gamble does not name them, and so their names are not included here. Except for a few dates, as already mentioned, obtained from the Council Minutes and from the death records at the Chatham County Health Department, this list is simply a recompilation of information from Gamble's History, including only that information which Gamble provides. Bethany L. Ford, compiler October 1981 42 Chronological List of Mayors and Aldermen 1790- 1901 First .Administration, March 8, 1790, to March 9, 1791 John Houstoun, mayor Joseph Clay, Jr. (resigned Matthew McAllister June 8, 1790) Justus H. Sheuber Joseph Habersham Samuel Stirke Edward Lloyde Second .Administration, March 9, 1791, to March 12, 1792 Thomas Gibbons, mayor John Berrien Jacob Waldburger 'William Lewden Richard Wayne Justus H. Sheuber Joseph Welscher Third Administration, March 12,1792, to March 11, 1793 Joseph Habersham, mayor John Berrien Justus H. Sheuber Joseph Clay, Jr. Jacob Waldburger William Lewden Richard Wayne Fourth Administration, March 11, 1793, to March 10, 1794 William Stephens, mayor John Berrien George Jones Joseph Clay, Jr. William Lewden John Cunningham Andrew McCredie 43 Fifth Administration, March 10, 1794, to March 9, 1795 Thomas Gibbons, mayor John Berrien Andrew McCredie John Cunningham George Throop William Lewden Ulrick Tobler Sixth Administration, March 9, 1795, to March 14, 1796 William Stephens, mayor Thomas Gibbons George Throop George Harris Ulrick Tobler Andrew McCredie Richard Wayne John Moore James Box Young Balthaser Shaffer Seventh Administration, March 14, 1796, to July 10, 1797 John Y. Noel, mayor Thomas Gibbons Owen Owens John McCall Ulrick Tobler John Millen Richard Wayne John Moore James Box Young Thomas Norton Eighth Administration, July 10, 1797, to July 9, 1798 John Glen, mayor George Anderson John Moore (died Thomas Gibbons September, 1797) John Glass James Robertson John Holland John Peter Ward Henry C. Jones (from James Box Young 0 ctober l3, 1797) 44 Ninth Administration, July 9, 1798, to July 8, 1799 Matthew McAllister, mayor Robert Bolton John Y. Noel (resigned Richard Dennis March, 1799) John Glass Henry Putnarn William Hunter (resigned Joseph Roberts (from March, 1799) April 1, 1799) Thomas McCall {from Richard Wayne April 1, 1799) Joseph Welscher Andrew McCredie Tenth Administration, July 8, 1799, to July 14, 1800 Thomas Gibbons, mayor William Belcher Thomas McCall (from Robert Bolton December, 1799) Richard Dennis Andrew McCredie Samuel Lawrence John Millen William Lewden Levi Sheftall Matthew McAllister (refused to serve) Eleventh Administration, July 14, 1800, to July 13, 1801 Thomas Gibbons, mayor Robert Bolton Levi Sheftall Richard Dennis {absent three Archibald Smith months; seat declared William Taylor vacant November 24, 1800) Alex. Watt {from John Glass December 15, 1800) Edward Harden John G. Williamson Andrew McCredie 45 Twelfth Administration, July 13, 1801, to July 12, 1802 David B. Mitchell, mayor Stephen Blount Charles Harris Robert Bolton James Johnston, Jr. Richard Dennis John Y. Noel John Glass John G. Williamson Edward Harden Thirteenth Administration, July 12, 1802, to July ll, 1803 Charles Harris, mayor Stephen Blount George Jones (resigned Richard Dennis (from January 24, 1803) January 24, 1803) John H. Morel (for new ward, John Glass from June, 1803) Edward Harden Levi Sheftall Asa Hoxey (for new ward, Edward Stebbins from June, 1803) Joseph Welscher John G. Williamson Fourteenth Administration, July ll, 1803, to July 9, 1804 Charles Harris, mayor Stephen Blount Edward Stebbins (absent three Edward L. Davies (from months; seat declared November 14, 1803) vacant October 17, 1803) Fingal T. Flyming George D. Sweet Samuel Howard Joseph Welscher As a Hoxe y (from John G. Williamson (resigned 0 c to be r 3 l , 18 0 3 ) April 2, 1804) John H. Morel George Woodruff (resigned Solomon Shad August, 1803) Levi Sheftall 46 Fifteenth Administration, July 9, 1804, to July 8, 1805 John Y. Noel, mayor Adam Cope James Marshall George H. Davidson John H. Morel Edward L. Davies Solomon Shad (resigned William Davies (resigned July, 1804; re-elected February, 1805) January 28, 1805) Isaac Fell Levi Sheftall Fingal T. Flyming George D. Sweet (resigned Edward Harden (from October, 1804) October 22, 1804; Joseph Welscher (resigned resigned January 1805) July, 1804) Zachariah Horskins Samuel Howard (from March 11, 1805) Sixteenth Administration, July 8, 1805, to July 14, 1806 John Y. Noel, mayor Benjamin Ansley James Marshall Adam Cope John H. Morel William Davies Balthaser Shaffer Samuel Howard Joseph Welscher James Hunter John P. Williamson John Love Seventeenth Administration, July 14, 1806, to September 14, 1807 John Y. Noel, mayor George Harral (from Benjamin Ansley April 13, 1807) Calvin Baker (from John Pettibone (resigned March 2, 1807) November 24, 1806) John Cumming (resigned Henry Putnam (from January, 1807) December 8, 1806) William Davies Thomas W. Rodman Green R. Duke (from Samuel H. Stackhouse February 16, 1807) Oliver Sturges (resigned Fingal T. Flyming January, 1807) Christian Gugel John P. Williamson (resigned Edward Harden February, 1807) 47 Eighteenth Administration, September 14, 1807, to September 12, 1808 William Davies (resigned November 30, 1807; remained alderman), Charles Harris (from November 30, 1807), mayor Benjamin Ansley Silas Richards (from November 16, Thomas Bourke 1807, to May 16, 1808) William Brown (resigned William Riggs (from November 16, 1807) May 30, 1808) Edward Harden Balthaser Shaffer Asa Hoxey Edward Stebbins (Capt.) Andrew McLean (from John Tebeaux (died December 9, 1807) October 12, 1807) John H. Morel John Y. White Thomas Rice John P. Williamson Nineteenth .Administration, September 12, 1808, to September 11, 1809 John P. Williamson, mayor Adam Cope William .A. Moore (from Jeremiah Cuyler March 20, 1809) (Dr.) John Grimes John Pettibone (expelled .Asa Hoxey (resigned September 4, 1809) March 6, 1809) (Dr.) James Bond Read (Capt.) Andrew McLean Thomas Rice Norman McLeod Edward Stebbins Thomas Mendenhall (resigned Benjamin Storey (from February 6, 1809) February 20, 1809) John Y.